


Let's Make Some New Memories

by Sleepyblue_Kitzune



Series: We Make Our Own Destiny [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types, Tales of Xillia
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Angst and Feels, BAMF Tifa Lockhart, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Half Human-Half Elf Tifa, Humanized Sonic Characters, Humor, Implied Dimension Travel, Implied Time Travel, In This Universe Gaia has Four Continents Instead of Three Continents, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Mystery, Protective Rufus Shinra, Rufus Shinra Being An Asshole, Semi-Crackish, She Just Wants a Stress-Free Peaceful Life, Soft Rufus Shinra, Tifa Lockhart is Tired, Various Cameo Appearances from Other Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28392222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sleepyblue_Kitzune/pseuds/Sleepyblue_Kitzune
Summary: Ever since the destruction of Nibelheim, Tifa has been trying to live out her life the best way she can. Now years later, in Crystal Ray Town, she didn't think she would be running into a few familiar faces, along with meeting some new ones. With all the memories she's held onto so far, maybe she'll make some new ones while she's here.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart & Jessie, Tifa Lockhart & Reno, Tifa Lockhart & Rufus Shinra, Tifa Lockhart/Rufus Shinra
Series: We Make Our Own Destiny [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2096214
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if this has been done before, but if it hasn't, then I guess I'm the first one? The idea of Tifa as a "half-elf" came to me one night as I was looking through some fantasy-ish related pictures (and strangely enough, pokemon was on that list...before I scrapped it out entirely lol) 
> 
> I don't know how this will turn out...but let's see where this goes, shall we?

_There was just something oddly satisfying about watching yourself dream, then being aware of said dream and just knowing what to expect from it. Especially if it was the same dream she’d been having on and off for the last three years. The outcome of the dream stayed the same no matter how much she tried to change it or warn her past self, so the young woman stopped. She stopped trying to resist it, and she stopped trying to block it out of her mind. The dream was just going to come anyway, whether she wanted it or not. There was no point in trying to fight it anymore. So now, she just let it play out._

_With an aloof expression that looked so out of place on her young adult face and in her shiny vermilion red-amber eyes, 18 year old Tifa watched her 15 year old self run through the burning village of Nibelheim, frantically calling out the names of either her friends, her neighbors, or her dad, trying to see if any one of them were still alive._

_She looked at the whole scene as if she was watching a movie and not reliving her old memories again. And what sucked so much about this dream was the fact that it was a reoccurring one. It was a dream that she's had at least twelve times now, and she was beginning to hate it all so much. It's a wonder how she hasn't cracked from the stress of it all or developed insomnia yet._

_‘ **I was so hopeful back then.** ’_

_Adult Tifa stayed in the background, hovering in the air like a ghost, and studied the scene of her teenager self running past her childhood friend's house before her small pointy pierced ears twitched and she stopped and looked right at the burning house. Then without a word, she ran inside through the flames, which started to dissolve and hiss in protest as soon as they touched the now-deep blue watery aura surrounding her body. And not a minute too soon, the girl shot out of the house with an injured-but-still-alive-and-crying Claudia Strife in her arms and stopped by the water tower just in time for the whole structure behind them to come falling down with a_ **_boom_** _._

_And though the woman’s sobbing words of “Oh thank you so much, sweet little Tifa” and “You were so brave” were spoken so low, too low for a human to pick up, Teenager Tifa still heard them with her sensitive hearing. ‘You’re welcome, Miss Strife,’ she said in her mind, squeezing the woman’s shoulders gently in comfort as she searched around the burning village for anyone else with her shiny eyes._

_“Tifa-hime!”_

_Adult Tifa saw a 3’7 anthropomorphic fobbit with midnight blue fur that had what looked like an entire galaxy painted directly on her fluffy black chest flying towards her younger self. She had black tipped bunny ears that hung down past her shoulder length curly hair-like fur, curly black bangs that were somewhat spiked and had the same galaxy-like design on them, ruby red eyes, silver colored paws, and a long bushy fox tail with silver and black colored tips at the end._

_For accessories, the fobbit wore an intricate gold amulet around her neck that contained a mysterious amethyst gem inside, peeking a bit through the red scarf she wore on top of it. She also wore some black boots that had little white heels on them, a red and white accented vest that had a combined star-heart symbol inked in black on the back, and some flowy red arm warmers that had white floral patterns designed on the bottom of the fabric. They were tied around the top of her arms, secured by the black and white ribbons that held them in place._

_Relief flashed across Teenager Tifa’s face. “Ruby! There you are!” she greeted her living booster-toy and robotic friend with a nod as she landed on the ground in front of her. “Here...” she paused and took a look at Claudia, who was now passed out in her arms, before passing the woman over carefully to the anthropomorphic robot. “Take her out of here and somewhere to safety. See if you can find Master Zangan while you’re at it too,” she ordered._

_Ruby tightened her grip on Claudia, looked down at her for a second, before looking back up at the girl with worried eyes. “What are you gonna do, hime?” she asked quietly._

_Teenager Tifa said nothing and turned her eyes elsewhere._

_Ruby followed her sight and saw the young girl looking towards the mountain area. “Mt. Nibel, huh? That’s where you’re headed off to next?”_

_Teenager Tifa nodded._

_“Okay, hime. Be careful and good luck,” Ruby said before she turned around and took off with Claudia in her arms._

_Adult Tifa watched her younger self take off towards Mt. Nibel._

_‘ **I thought I was brave.** ’_

_The older woman tracked the younger girl’s progress as she avoided getting into random battles with the local wild monsters in the area and shook her head in sadness at the dead ones she came across, covered in familiar slash wounds that had been made by a sword. The young girl put it out of her mind and ran some more until she finally arrived at the reactor._

_However, she froze in shock at the sight of her father lying on the ground in a pool of blood._

_“No...”_

_A dark shadow covered the girl’s face as she tipped her hat down, ran over to her father’s side, and stopped right next to him, ignoring the bloody weapon that was sitting off to the side._

_“Papa...”_

_‘ **But I wasn’t.** ’_

_Adult Tifa watched the younger girl drop to her knees and clench her fists._

_“Sephiroth!?” the 15 year old leaned forward, her expression still hidden behind that brown cowboy hat of hers. “Sephiroth did this to you, didn’t he!?” she growled out, dropping her head down. “Sephiroth...SOLDIER...Mako Reactors...Shinra...Everything!” a wail filled with raw pain, anger, and, surprisingly, sadness erupted from her lips as she threw her head back._

_‘ **I had lost it...** ’_

_“I hate them all!”_

_‘ **I lost myself...** ’_

_The young girl said nothing further as she slowly got up from the ground, picked up the sword, and ran inside the reactor._

_Adult Tifa followed._

_‘ **And became a reckless girl with thoughts of revenge on her mind.** ’ _

_Then she heard Sephiroth’s voice, one that was crawling with joy and insanity. “Mother, I’m here to see you. Please, open this door,” she looked down and saw her younger self shooting a seething glare at the silver haired general’s back._

_“How could you do that to Papa, all the townspeople, and the wild monsters back there?”_

_‘ **To think that I could take on one of Shinra’s top ranking SOLDIER officers… It was stupid. Laughable even,** ’ 18 year old Tifa shook her head when she saw the 15 year old girl run up the steps towards the 1st Class SOLDIER with Masamune raised above her head in a striking position. ‘ **I was a fool** ,’_ _Sephiroth whirled around just before the young girl stabbed him and wrestled the sword out of her hands. ‘ **And I paid the price for it…** ’_ _before the young girl could react, the general swiftly cut her down. However..._

_“Take this!”_

_Right as she flew back, 15 year old girl raised her arm up, channeled a severely large amount of mana into her hand—_

**_KABOOM!_ **

_—_ _and blasted the surprised general straight through the Jenova door with her attack. He flew inside and_ _collided with something solid in the distance five seconds later._

**_CRACK!_ **

_“That...little mountain guide...”_

**_THUD!_ **

_“Who...is she? What is she?”_

_Although Sephiroth probably didn’t mean for her to catch all of those words, Teenager Tifa still heard them._

_“Wha—”_

_“Why?” came his final yet weak question._

_Within that instant, something hit her. It was something that she failed to notice earlier, something that she hadn’t figured out yet._

_“Why?” repeated Sephiroth._

_...Until now, that is. And she wanted to laugh at herself, but she didn’t._

_Man, the timing of it all was fantastic!_

_‘I see now. Maybe the few things I overheard in here from a few days ago has something to do with all of this. Yes, that has to be it.’_

_Still, the young 15 year old decided to answer all of Sephiroth's questions, knowing that he would hear her from within the other room. And despite the rage, the anger and hatred she felt for the man, she could tell he was more than a little lost on...well...everything now._

_It was sad and she, for whatever reason, pitied him? How astonishing was that?_

_“I’m...more human than you’ll ever be...even though I am not a complete one,” she began in the midst of her fall. “I am a half-elf whose background origins are still unknown to me. And to be truthfully honest, I am loved by many, hated by some, and feared by a small few,” a gasp was torn from her bloody lips when she felt her body bounce off a step with a_ **_thump_** _. “But the difference between you and me_ _—_ _” her descent quickly came to an end when she landed on her back at the bottom of the steps with a loud_ **_thud_** _. And despite choking on her blood, the young girl still managed to finish the last of her speech in a strong, clear voice. “_ _—_ _lies within our actions. I didn’t take any while you on the other hand did. I didn’t choose to become a murdering monster like you, Sephiroth.”_

_It became silent for the first seven seconds or so until..._

_“I... You... I don't understand—”_

**_TAP...TAP...TAP...TAP!_ **

_“Oh no! I hope I’m not too late!” came the distant voice of Zack Fair._

_‘ **I don’t know how I did it...but I somehow managed to get a good hit in,** ’ _ _Adult Tifa looked at the semi-conscious girl who was now bleeding all over the metal flooring in-between two giant Mako container-like pods. ‘ **I also don't know what possessed me to say all of that to Sephiroth, but I hope it did something to him in the end,** ’ _ _she caught the sight of Zack running into the room to check on the 15 year old before he rushed up the stairs, screaming Sephiroth’s name in the process, and went into the Jenova room—_

_“Shit!”_

_—_ _only to come flying out ten seconds later. He hit the ceiling with a_ **_bang_ ** _and landed on the ground, cracking one of the Mako pods behind him in the process as he slumped up against it, bleeding heavily. ‘_ ** _I still don't know why I said I hated SOLDIER back then when there was one right there that tried to stop Sephiroth. And he failed just like I did,_** _’ she shook her head again, this time in disappointment._

_“Damn...it! I couldn’t stop him,” coughed Zack. “And I...couldn’t save anyone...not even poor Tifa,” he finished in a weak voice._

_‘ **Zack...** ’_

_The scene around her began to brighten up, signifying that the dream was about to end, and just before it cut off, she saw a Shinra infantryman run into the room. He spotted the 15 year old girl, who was now unconscious, and ran over to her side. He kneeled and slowly took his—_

_‘ **Wait a minute...** ’ _

_—helmet off,_ _tossing it aside to shake his Chocobo-styled blond hair out of his face for a moment._

_‘ **Oh my god!?** ’ _

_It was her childhood friend and next door neighbor, Cloud Strife._

_‘ **Well this is new.** ’ _

_Adult Tifa couldn’t help but be amused by this despite the surprise._

_‘ **...So I wasn’t hallucinating from the blood loss and just imagining myself sensing his energy signature after all. That was him.** ’ _

_Suddenly, the scenery around her finally turned white._

* * *

“Hime!”

Tifa’s shiny vermilion red-amber eyes cracked open and she shot up like a springboard, holding back a gasp. Her body was completely drenched in sweat, yet she didn’t pay any attention to that. No, what she was looking at right now was the figure in front of her.

“Ruby?” Tifa whispered, blinking up at the anthropomorphic fobbit robot who stared at her in worry. “What are you doing out here?”

“You didn’t show up at the hotel two hours ago, so I went looking for you.”

“Oh,” Tifa blinked. “I'm really sorry about that, Ruby,” she apologized. “I didn't mean to make you worry for me.”

“Well, you did.”

Tifa gave her a guilty look, but other than that she didn’t say anything.

Ruby still wasn’t satisfied. “Nightmare, right?”

“It’s...” Tifa paused as she thought about it and figured that there was nothing really for her to say, so shook her head and said something else instead. “Look, I’m fine now, Ruby. The dream I had wasn't that bad. Don’t worry about it,” the half-elf tried giving her friend a reassuring smile, but then immediately dropped it. She knew the robotic booster-toy wasn’t going to buy that answer. Hell, not even she would believe her own answer.

“Really?”

And she was right. There was a dubious look on Ruby’s face right now.

Tifa sighed. “Okay, fine. It was horrible,” she admitted and got up from the ground. She stretched her arms above her head, listening to the small cracking sounds her bones made as they popped back in place, then put them back down and took a look around the area they were in. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you which memory it is. I dream about it plenty enough.”

Ruby smiled on the inside. Now they were getting somewhere. “I know,” she nodded once, then her voice turned low and sympathetic when she said her next choice of words. “I get dreams about Nibelheim too, sometimes.”

A sad look crossed over Tifa’s face at the mention of her old hometown, but it disappeared when her eyes landed on the city she could see up ahead. ‘ _Oh that’s right. I remember now_ ,’ the sudden urge to facepalm at her near forgetfulness was strong, but she ignored it. Clearly she had been a little out of it earlier and just didn't notice it at the time. ‘ _I left Crystal Ray Town and came out here to take a nap. Just so I could get away from the noises for a bit._ ’

“Did it help?”

Tifa took her attention off the city for a second. “Coming out here, you mean?” at her friend’s nod, the half-elf turned her eyes back over to Crystal Ray Town and continued speaking. “Yes, it did actually.”

“Good.”

“I guess we all need to take time for ourselves in order to escape from the things that get to us sometimes. Even if it's just for a few hours, you know?” Tifa continued, giving the fobbit a side glance before looking back at the city. “To get away and recharge so that you'll feel much better, in mind and body, when you come back to face reality.”

Ruby smiled at her friend's answer and show of wisdom before she, too, looked over in the city's direction. “Yeah...you’re right.”

Despite its name, the place in front of them was actually a city. A small city that contained a lot of modern-looking homes and wide streets that you would normally see in a much larger city and not a small one like this one. 

However, that wasn’t the case with this place. 

The city was pretty decent in size and had a gym with a bowling alley right next door to it, located somewhere out front. Then in another area, somewhere in the middle of the town square, there was a small public library that sat outside in front of the three monuments, next to a water fountain with some benches around it, and near a dentist office that was located just a few buildings down. And about thirty feet away from the area, there was a large stadium next to a little shopping center village that sat just about fifty feet away from the building with a hospital just a few miles away from that area. 

Aside from all that, there were also a few schools, parks, banks, gas stations, supermarkets, item shops, coffee shops, hotels, restaurants, diners, and bar joints scattered throughout the whole place in many areas.

Sure, she didn’t notice all of this when she arrived here about a week ago, but that was only because she wasn’t looking or taking in the sights right at the moment. 

No, the first thing Tifa noticed was the posters taped onto the sides of the buildings, talking about an upcoming fighting tournament. The sight of it all had roused her curiosity, so she walked up to one of them, read the information that was written on there, and ran all the way towards the stadium to sign up for the tournament. 

And while she was there, she found out that the city held these tournaments once every five years, mainly to honor the fallen heroes who gave their lives away to protect this place and the people within it in the past. 

When the tournament rolled around, which had started two days, Tifa got fired up. From day one, she breezed through the first batch of fighters and warriors alike with ease and this had disappointed her so much. But it thankfully got better on the second day, which took place yesterday, and Tifa had found herself some nice challenging opponents. A few of them managed to surprise her with a powerful hit or two, but they had been no match for her. She still defeated them and the remaining second batch of fighters in the end. 

The last batch, however, gave her a lot of trouble this morning. There had been a few close calls where she almost got knocked out of the fight, but she pulled through and defeated every single one of those fighters...until she reached the semifinals.

It was there that she went up against an attractive red haired guy from Midgar and his name was Reno. Considering how _fast_ and _skilled_ the dude was, Tifa had a really hard time beating him. It also didn’t help that he threw in a few winks and lewd comments her way every time they’d clashed and got a good hit or three in. Or said a few things that had left her feeling so confused. It was like he knew her or something...but she had never met the dude before until now, so she had no idea why he was treating her with familiarity. It intrigued her and left her suspicious, and she had a feeling he had done that on purpose.

Still, she had shoved that thought to the back of her mind and continued fighting him. It had been a little strange how she didn’t mind his behavior throughout the fight. What she did mind, however, was the little sneaky tricks he tried to pull off towards the end, hoping to throw her off-guard.

But it didn’t work.

When his attempt to cop a feel had failed him, Tifa swooped in. She delivered a devastating flurry of blows that had knocked the guy clear across the field and into a pillar of ice that had been created from one of her earlier attacks. And she knew the structure had cracked the moment he collapsed onto the ground, face first, and laid still.

She had been declared the victor after that, and she removed herself from the field once the medics came out with the stretcher and rolled his unconscious body away. Then she got pulled off to the side by one of them as soon as she walked past the cheering crowd, ignoring the few familiar faces ( _Ruby, Jessie, and some tall guy in dark clothing wearing a cap over his silver blond hair and glasses over his icy azure blue eyes_ ) she spotted, sitting up in the bleachers and received her own healing treatment right there at the entrance of one of the stadium's player zones.

Once she was healed, Tifa had left and waited in the locker room for thirty-five minutes until she got called back out into the field for the final match.

To her surprise, her final opponent turned out to be Jude Mathis, her own cousin from Rieze Maxia. It was a world that she was familiar with because her late mother took her there before. Twice. It was where she had met some family members of hers there after she turned five years old, and it was where she and her parents had spent their Christmas Week, New Years Eve, and New Years Day with Jude and the others in Leronde the year after that.

The battle between her and Jude had been long and hard as they matched each other blow for blow...until they switched it up with their own version of magic, casting one spirit arte after another, which left their audience in a state of awe as their moves ripped the battlefield apart and cancelled each other out.

Their bodies hardly stayed in one spot when they ran and flew at each with a roar or jumped/flipped over the attacks they threw at each other from across the field.

Some connected while others had missed. 

But the ones that made contact though...well, the attacks had left them reeling and coughing up blood.

That didn't stop them though. They both still had some fight left in them. But not much. And they knew that.

She didn’t know how she’d done it, but she recovered a few seconds before he did and landed a hard punch that had tossed him across the field, straight through a row of ice pillars until half of his body fell over the edge of the platform that served as their fighting ring.

The silence had rolled in when that happened. 

And everyone held their breaths when Jude had flipped himself up and away from the edge. He even made the motion look so smooth too! 

But that stunt he pulled...she knew it had cost him. All she saw was him falling to ground on his side and that was after he'd tried to walk. He failed, of course, and laid still after that.

No twitch.

No...nothing.

When Tifa realized that she had won the battle, a smile broke out on her bloody lips. And the crowd roared to life after that.

The medics had came out and rolled Jude away while she got waved over by one of them again to get her injuries treated.

Then half an hour later, the tournament committee commenced the ending ceremony. They brought her up on stage and congratulated her on her victory. She shook all of their hands, took pictures with them, and smiled at the crowd in the bleachers who clapped for her ( _she even spotted the group of the fighters she fought before, as well as Reno and Jude who were amongst them, standing in front of the stage and clapping for her too_ ) as she received a large gold trophy, her prize money ( _it was 500,000 gil in total_ ), and some rare Materia that was boxed inside of the shiny black leather case they came with.

Once the ceremony had ended though, Tifa didn’t stick around the place for long. She left to go drop off her prizes in the five-star hotel room she paid for at Ray Crystal La Vita some days ago, then left the building, and walked outside of town after that. Then she found the nearest tree that looked comfortable enough for her to relax against and sat there and went asleep.

“Hime?” Ruby’s voice broke Tifa out of her thoughts.

The young half-elf woman looked at her robotic friend. “Yes?” 

“What were you thinking about?”

Tifa smiled. “Just some things. Nothing important, I assure you.”

Ruby gave her a long look and said, “Alright,” she turned away from the woman and started making her way over to the city. “Let’s go back to the hotel for now.”

“Okay.”

Tifa turned on her heel and followed the anthropomorphic robot.

**xXXXXXXXXx**

As soon as she left Ray Crystal La Vita, only after she dropped off Ruby and told her to watch her stuff since she was going for a bit, this time in the city, Tifa heard someone calling her name.

“Hey Tifa!”

The young half-elf woman turned around and saw Jessie running straight towards her. “Hey Jessie,” she greeted the older human woman when she stopped in front of her. 

“Girl, where have you been?” the brunette placed her hands on her hips, pouting a bit. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I was hoping we could talk and play catch up since we haven’t seen each other in like two years. At least, not since you dropped off that little robotic friend of yours to take _your_ place instead. Ruby Starheaven, I think that was her name?” she leaned in close to whisper those last two parts to her. “Where is she anyway? I know I saw her sitting up in the bleachers at the stadium earlier.”

Tifa knew what she was talking about right away. 

Avalanche.

From what she learned, they were an insurgent group who opposed Shinra. 

Their goal? Why, to save the Planet from the misuse of Mako energy that the company was mass-producing, of course.

And as much as she hated the Shinra Electric Power Company, Tifa didn’t want to get involved with any of the activities Avalanche did and be labeled as a terrorist for it. After all, she didn’t think her late mother, late father, or any of her relatives back in Rieze Maxia, or elsewhere, would approve of that.

Besides, what if Avalanche’s actions backfire on them and a lot of innocent people get injured in the crossfire? Or worse, die? 

She didn’t want to be the cause of their deaths, or make their lives even more miserable than they already are if they somehow manage to survive from the bombing, and have all of that weighing heavily on her consciousness just because she wanted to take a few shots at Shinra. 

And no, not all of it would be for the sake of the Planet. This, she will admit to herself. 

With the amount of hatred she had, she knew it could easily turn into something else. 

Revenge.

Could she carry it out? Yes. 

But will she? No.

Honestly, she was done with all of that revenge stuff. 

For good. 

I mean, just look at where that got her last time? Slashed across the chest and left to die in that Mako Reactor with an ugly scar to show for it. 

Or, she would’ve died if it hadn't been for Master Zangan who found her in time and healed what little he could, just enough to slow the bleeding until he took her to the slums in Midgar to get treated.

If she would've let that anger inside of her burn, it would’ve changed her. Would’ve made her unrecognizable. Or worse, turned her into a monster.

And that is what revenge does to people. It affects them. Completely changes them. She’s seen it happen before with other people, and she even got a taste of it once in the past. But all of it had been enough to drive her away from the that. 

There was no need for her to go down that dark road. There would be chaos waiting for her if she did that. 

Plus, she knew her hesitation, or bleeding heart, wouldn’t do the team any good. She was a compassionate being after all, who was gifted with the power of empathy, and that is why she had declined Barret’s invitation to join them when he asked her.

Again, she hated the company, but not the people employed there. 

Sure, some of them were vile and downright evil, but she had met a few good ones in the year she spent in Midgar recovering from her injuries. Well, at least up until Master Zangan and Ruby arrived in the city and had plans on taking her out of the continent. 

Before she left with them though, Tifa had told Ruby to stay behind and support Avalanche. Then she told the group that the anthropomorphic robot could keep an eye on things for her and relay whatever information she picks up, or whatever stuff she sees and hears before showing them to her.

When they had asked her how was she going to do that, Tifa just smiled and said “Ruby is a _toy_ _robot_ and a _living_ _weapon_ with enough emotions to play the role of a human being should she feel the need to shapeshift into one and can fly, teleport, and do many other amazing things. I’m sure you’ll either figure out the rest of her abilities on your own or see them in action soon enough” to them. 

And she hasn’t seen either of them since then, aside from Ruby dropping by every six months or so to give her an update on what’s been happening in Midgar for the past two years.

“Yes, that’s her name. And she's at the hotel I'm staying at right now,” Tifa finally answered, then smiled at the woman a little guiltily. “Also, I’m really sorry for that, Jessie. I went outside of town, walked around for a bit, and...kind of lost track of time, you see,” she wasn’t going to admit that she fell asleep out there for a couple of hours.

“Yeah, okay, Tifa. I’m sure that’s what you did,” Jessie had that look in her eyes, like she didn’t believe her, but a smile appeared on her face as she jumped towards Tifa and grabbed her arm, surprising the half-elf. “Anyway! Now that you’re here, let’s go to the bar and have ourselves some drinks! We can catch up there!” without evening waiting for a response, the brunette started dragging the younger woman in the direction of said bar and talking about the kinds of sights she came across on her way here to town last week. 

Tifa didn’t bother resisting the Avalanche member, knowing how persistent the older woman could be sometimes. “If you say so,” a sigh left her lips as they walked through the streets, passing by the many people who gave them strange looks. She just knew that some of them were directed at her shiny eyes or elven ears. 

And thankfully enough their expressions weren’t negative in the slightest bit, which made her feel a little happy on the inside. 

‘ _To not be treated differently, hated, or viewed as a freak by the people over here is blessing._ ’

To be frank, things have gotten better for her ever since she first moved here. Not only did the continent have a lot more non-humans and half-humans living on this side of the world, but it was also free of Shinra’s influence and control. Surprisingly though, it was the people’s opinions that shocked her the most when she arrived here two years ago. She learned that over 60% of the Southern Continent’s population were pretty indifferent towards the company while the remaining 20% and 10% were those who stayed neutral and those who hated Shinra.

Honestly, it all just depends on where you go. 

Like her new home, Azure City, for instance...she knew the folks there had a split opinion on Shinra. 

‘ _One half of the city hates them while the other half feels indifferent about the whole company in general. And the discussions I hear from the two sides can get pretty...interesting._ ’ 

“...and then I see this tall hot guy in a suit walk into the bar, looking a bit rumpled as if he just came straight from the Honey Bee Inn in Sector Six—are you even listening, Tifa!?” Jessie stopped and gave her a look of annoyance, which snapped the young half-woman out of her thoughts.

Tifa blinked. “Huh?” she looked up and, after realizing that she had completely missed whatever the brunette was saying, blushed pink. “Oh! Sorry, Jessie,” she apologized, scratching the back of her pointy ear sheepishly. “My mind was...uhh...elsewhere.”

“Really, Tifa? We haven’t put any alcohol into our systems or met any hotties yet and you’re already starting to space out on me? My god, girl!”

Tifa choked out a laugh. “Umm, sorry?” she apologized for the second time, her blush growing brighter by the second, and totally ignored that other part she said.

The brunette sighed. “I swear...I have no idea what I’m going to do with you, Tifa,” Jessie rolled her eyes playfully at the younger woman, then released her arm. “C’mon, let’s keep going,” she started walking down the road again with Tifa following right behind her.

The two were quiet for the next minute or so as they passed by a few more buildings. It wasn’t until they walked around a few corners that Tifa decided to speak up.

“Which bar are we going to by the way?”

The brunette hummed and paused in her tracks, smiling wide at the building they stopped in front of. “This one right here, Tifa!” she said, twirling on her feet with a silent “Ta-dah” and made an exaggerated motion to the bar that was about five feet away from them. “I came across this little nifty place three days ago.”

Once her blush went away, Tifa raised her head up and looked at the sign. “The Radiant Gemstone,” she read, and was simply left perplexed by the name of the bar, before turning her shiny eyes over to the brunette who was grinning from ear-to-ear at the building. “I... What’s so special about this bar in particular? And what are you so happy about?”

Jessie turned to her with a giggle and took a hold of her arm. “You’re about to find out later on!” she said, giving the confused half-elf woman a wink. 

“What do you—Whoa!” Tifa let out a shocked cry when she suddenly found herself being pulled towards the building by an overenthusiastic Jessie. “Jessie! Slow down, will you!?”

“Come on, Tifa! It’ll be fun, I promise you! We’re gonna celebrate your victory tonight!”

Tifa let out a defeated sigh in response and just let the human woman pull her inside. ‘ _Oh Gaia, help me._ ’

**xXXXXXXXXx**

Music and laughter surrounded the ladies from all sides as they made their way over to the bar, passing by the many folks sitting at their booths or tables with their drinks in hand and their food out in front of them, ignoring ( _well Tifa did, anyway_ ) the woof-whistles that were thrown in their direction, and tuning out what sounded like someone throwing a punch at another person with the latter whining “Oww! What the hell, boss man!? I didn’t even do anything this time! If you like—Oww! Fuck, man! That hurt, yo” a few seconds afterward, as they took the last two seats in front of the bartender who was cleaning a wine glass with the dish rag he had in his hands.

Tifa picked the stool next to next a tall man with spiky black-red streaked hair, ruby red eyes, and small pointy animal ears on top of his head while Jessie chose the one next to a lovely white haired woman with a large bust, teal colored eyes, and large bat-like ears on top of her head. 

The bartender, who just finished putting the glass away, looked up and greeted the two with a welcoming smile.

“What can I get for you tonight, ladies?” 

Jessie, as well as Tifa, took a moment to observe the stash of liquor all lined up on the shelves behind the man, noting the wide selection of brands he had in stock. Although they recognized a couple of names on the first and third shelves, there were some up on the second, fourth, and fifth shelves that they didn’t recognize at all. 

‘ _Must be a local thing native to this continent only,_ ’ Jessie thought to herself before turning to the bartender with a smile. “I think I’ll start off with a Loveless,” she finally decided.

“And I’ll have a...Shiva,” Tifa said, after thinking about it for a few seconds.

The bartender nodded and left to go prepare their drinks.

Tifa placed her arms on the now-cleaned bar countertop and folded them with a sigh as Jessie turned to her and started talking about what she and the others have been up to for the past two years in a low yet excited voice.

Five minutes later, the bartender came back with their respective drinks and handed them over to the two, who thanked him in response, before leaving to their side to go check on his other patrons.

“...and seriously, that one ice move you did there against that Reno guy in the semifinals looked awesome!” Jessie gushed as she paused to take a sip of her Loveless for a moment and then went back to talking. “I’ve never seen anyone use magic like that before.”

Tifa hid a smile behind her glass as she took a sip of her cocktail. “That’s because it’s a different type of magic, one that you’ll never see anyone else besides me...and Jude use it,” she said after swallowing.

Interest peaked, Jessie took another sip of her drink, then lowered her glass and leaned in. “So it doesn’t use energy from the Planet? And you guys don’t have to use Materia to harness and channel that energy in order to release it? What kind of magic is then?” she asked curiously.

Unknown to the two ladies, the spiky black-red haired man and the white haired woman next to them were listening in, along with four others a couple of stools down, and two others from a few tables somewhere behind them.

Tifa pursed her lips in thought and tapped her chin. “Well...I don't know much about it,” she began slowly. “But it’s called _Spirit Magic_. And those moves that you and the rest of the audience saw there at the stadium are called _Spirit Artes_ ,” she explained and took another drink of her Shiva before sitting it down. “The ice move you’ve mentioned earlier is called _Ice Spear_.”

“Spirit Artes, huh?” the brunette repeated, sipping more of her drink. “Sounds cool!” she smiled at the half-elf woman. “So about the name...what’s the meaning behind it?”

“Well...” 

“Spirit Artes are created through the use of _Mana_ from the _Mana Lobes_ in our brains and the _Spirits_ who feed off of that mana,” answered a familiar voice.

Tifa and Jessie, as well as the two people next to them, turned to the side to see Jude Mathis sitting with a tall spiky brown haired, brown-eyed man, a tall old man with his long white hair pulled back into a ponytail and wearing glasses over his pale green eyes, and a young woman with short brown hair and green eyes.

“Then, when it comes time to cast the artes, the wielder has to speak with the Spirits and ask them what kind of spells they want in exchange for their Mana,” Jude continued. “And once they receive the Mana and the incantation for their chosen spell, a pact is now formed between the wielder and the Spirits, allowing the former to activate the spell that was negotiated on beforehand,” he finished and then took a swig of his own drink, a daiquiri of some kind, that was in front of him.

-Silence-

Confusion appeared on Jude’s face when he saw everyone, except for his cousin, who looked both impressed and a little relieved that he stepped in, staring at him. “What?” he sat his drink down and asked, “Why are all of you staring at me like that?”

“Ah, good o’ Jude with the textbook explanations. You sure know how to ‘wow’ the crowd, kid!” the spiky brown haired man laughed as he threw a friendly arm around the younger man’s shoulder, making him almost spill his drink, and ignored the annoyed “Alvin! Watch it, please” Jude threw at him afterwards. 

The old man said nothing and shook his head at the two, despite the smile he had on his face, while the brown haired, green-eyed woman laughed.

“Who cares if that sounded like it came out of a textbook or not, I wouldn’t know, but I liked it! I found it very thorough!” Jessie beamed at Jude.

“Yes, I agree the brunette here,” the white haired woman chimed in while the other spiky haired man nodded his head in agreement. “You’re very good at explaining things, hun,” she flashed a fanged smile at him. 

Jude smiled weakly at the attention he was given. “Uhh...thank you, ladies,” he quickly looked away from the two women and picked up his drink, raising it to his lips to take another sip.

Tifa sighed and then chuckled softly at the scene. ‘ _Oh Jude, you were always a shy individual around new people, even when we were little kids. Guess that never really went away over the years,_ ’ she looked away and took a sip of her own drink. ‘ _He kinda reminds me of my friend, Cloud, in that aspect._ ’

“No problem, cutie!” Jessie giggled as she turned to her friend, oblivious to the new look that just popped up on the younger woman’s face, and gushed, “Oooh! He’s a fine one, Tifa. Hot and Polite. But he’s shy too? What an adorable combination!”

Tifa and Jude immediately spat out their drinks, all over the countertop unfortunately, while the white haired woman said “I’ll drink to that one, girlie” and did just that, ignoring the spiky black-red haired man who pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed “Ridiculous. Why do I even hang out with you sometimes, woman” at her.

Meanwhile, Alvin and the other two were laughing their asses off, and the bartender, who’d overheard and witnessed the whole thing, ran over to clean the mess up.

“Jessie!” Tifa shouted as she started to cough, and from out of the corner of her eye, she could spot Jude with his face buried into his folded arms. He was probably dying on the inside from hearing all of this, no doubt.

The brunette turned to the coughing woman. “What? You don’t agree with me—

“Dear Gaia, no!” 

Jessie stared at her horrified friend and looked at her red face with some worry and confusion. “But—”

“Jessie!” Tifa cut her off. “That’s my cousin you’re talking about right there!” she explained, then pulled out a fancy-looking black bandanna from her pocket and took a few deep breaths into it.

Jessie and the other woman’s jaw dropped in surprise while the spiky black-red haired man looked at the half-elf woman with a raised brow and the other three stopped laughing.

“Oh.”

“You okay, Jude?”

Jude raised his head up and looked at the short brown haired woman and old man. “I’ll be fine, Leia, Rowen,” he told them.

“Hey Jude,” Alvin began, grabbing the young man’s attention. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your cousin over there?”

“Oh yeah,” Jude turned to his cousin. “Tifa!”

Tifa, who had finally calmed down now, looked at him and lowered the bandanna away from her face. “Hmm?”

“I’d like to introduce you to my friends here,” Jude said. “This is Alvin,” he gestured to the spiky brown haired man sitting next to him, “Rowen,” then the old man sitting next to Alvin, “And I’m sure you remember—”

“Leia,” Tifa interrupted him with a smile. “Yeah, I remember her. Your childhood friend. Hey Leia,” she waved at the short brown haired woman, who waved back at her, before turning her attention to Alvin and Rowen. “Hello, Alvin, Rowen! It’s nice to meet you two.”

“Same to you, Tifa,” the two men nodded at her.

Tifa turned to Jessie with a small gesture and said, “Guys, this here is my boy-crazy friend, Jessie.”

“Hey,” the Avalanche woman waved at the four, not even insulted by the nickname Tifa added onto her.

“Hello,” they returned her greeting.

Jessie then turned to the last two people who have yet to introduce themselves. “And what about you two? What are your names?” she asked with a raised brow.

“Rouge,” answered the white haired woman.

“Shadow,” replied the spiky black-red haired man.

Tifa nodded at them. “Nice to meet you both.”

Shadow inclined his head, acknowledging her answer with a “Same to you”, while Rouge gave her and Jessie somewhat of a sheepish smile.

“Sorry about eavesdropping on conversation earlier.”

“Well...” Jessie rubbed the back of her head, “I guess we weren’t exactly talking in low voices or anything, now were we?”

“No, we definitely weren’t,” said Tifa.

Shadow looked at the watch on his wrist for a second before getting up. “Rouge, we’re done here,” he waved the bartender over before taking out his wallet. When the man reached his side, he pulled out a 50 gil note and gave it to him, paying for both his and Rouge’s drinks.

Rouge looked at Shadow for a second, as he shoved his wallet back in his pocket, and turned back to the group. “Well, it was nice meeting you all. But Shadow and I have to go now,” she told them and got up from her seat as well. “And by the way, Tifa, congratulations on winning the tournament. And Jude? Your match with Tifa back there was great. It was amazing to watch. Shadow and I liked it.”

Tifa and Jude nodded in unison. “Thank you, Rouge.”

“Goodbye, you two!” the others said.

When Shadow and Rouge left, Tifa turned around just as the bartender started making his back over to them while the others started asking Jessie some questions. “I’m sorry about the mess we made, sir,” she apologized to him, feeling really guilty over the whole thing.

The bartender stopped and turned to her with a small smile. “It’s okay, Miss. You and your cousin aren’t the first ones to do that and I’m most certainly sure you guys aren’t going to be the last,” he said lightly as a joke, making her giggle in response.

“I guess you have a point there.”

“You want another one?” he kindly offered.

Tifa took a glance down at her glass and found that it was empty. “Yes, please,” she said, looking back up.

The bartender nodded and left.

Tifa looked down and noticed that she still had the bandanna she pulled out earlier in her hand. Her eyes trailed over to the left corner of the fabric until they landed on the sapphire blue colored initials, R.S., that were etched in white there, and she began to trace her thumb over them absentmindedly.

Suddenly, the image of an older boy with blond hair that was lighter than Cloud’s and fell into his icy azure blue eyes, wearing a black turtleneck sweater, white shorts, and long white socks with some brown loafers on his feet, flashed through her mind briefly—

_The silver blond haired teen stared at the sad little eleven year old girl with long black hair, shiny vermilion red-amber eyes, and pointy ears sitting on the ground in front of him for a long moment before turning away and reaching down in his pocket to retrieve something._

_“Here. Take this.”_

_Tifa looked up to see a black bandanna in front of her face. Her eyes traveled past the hand that held it and all the way up the owner’s arm before they locked on to the boy’s azure blue eyes. “Are you sure?”_

_He nodded._

_“Thank you,” Tifa took the fabric and wiped the tears out of her eyes, pausing to take in the clean yet pleasant scent she could smell on it. ‘Oh! This must be his then,’ she lowered the fabric away from her face and tried to give it back to him, but he shook his head no._

_“Keep it.”_

_She looked back at him, confused. “But—_ ”

_“I have plenty to spare,” he paused, and seemed to hesitate for a second before he finally made up his mind, then bent down on one knee and patted her head gently. “Also, I see nothing weird about your eyes or ears. I find them a little intriguing to be honest.”_

_Tifa looked at him with wide eyes._

_“Try not to let the negative opinions of others get you down, Tifa. You are stronger than that,” he advised before removing his hand off her head. “And better than them,” he added as an afterthought quietly._

_“You really think so?” Tifa stared at the older boy, as he stood to his feet, in wonder._

_He gave her another long look and then a single firm nod of his head. “I know so.”_

_Tifa blinked, confused at why this sixteen year old rich boy, who she hadn’t known for that long, was treating her with such familiarity, before she shook her head and gave him a bright smile, much to his surprise. “Thank you!” she said, clutching the bandanna in her hands tightly._

_He quickly shed the shock off and chuckled. “That’s better.”_

_Tifa was confused again._

_“That looks suits you much better than the one you had on your face earlier,” he told her before turning around. “Besides...”_

_Tifa caught the frown on his lips and the blank look in his eyes before he started walking away from her. Sadness? Anger? Why was there sadness...and bitter hatred that she could sense coming from deep within him?_

_“...I don’t like it when girls cry.”_

_“Hey wait! What’s your name? You never told me—”_

_“One day. Maybe one day, Lockhart.”_

—before it went away.

‘ _I wonder where he’s at? And what’s he doing in his life right now?_ ’ 

Jude, who just finished draining the last of his daiquiri, looked over in his cousin’s direction and saw a warm smile on her face, which piqued his curiosity. 

Now, he normally wouldn’t be curious about something like this, considering Tifa used to do that all the time when they were kids and all, greeting everyone she met, kids and adults alike, with a big smile on her face, in that little polite manner of hers. And while he loved her smiles, there was just something...different about this one. 

Something more... _intimate_ , from the looks of it. There was even a tiny sparkle in her eyes he could see.

It sorted reminded him of the way he used to look at Milla like—

‘ _Oh._ ’

The realization struck him hard.

‘ _She has a crush on someone._ ’

“What’cha got there, Tifa?” asked Jessie.

That seemed to snap the half-elf woman out of it, and Tifa looked up to see Jessie, Jude, Alvin, Rowen, and Leia staring at the bandanna in her hand then back up at her. “N-Nothing!” she lied, quickly shoving the fabric back into her pocket with a stutter.

“Awww! You’re blushing, Teef!” 

“That’s adorable!”

“I...” to Tifa’s horror, she was, in fact, blushing, as she could feel the heat in her cheeks, and she turned away from Jessie and Leia’s giggling. “It’s just a bandanna, you guys! There’s nothing special about it!” she lied again.

Alvin smirked. “Nothing special she says,” he repeated with a chuckle. “Sorry Tifa, but it sure doesn’t look that way to us. Not with how you’re acting right now.”

“I’m afraid Alvin has a point here,” Rowen spoke up. 

“It...It was a gift, okay!” was all Tifa admitted.

“Oh?” with her interest now piqued, Jessie leaned in and threw an arm around the younger woman’s shoulder. “Was it from a...boy?”

Tifa suddenly went quiet.

Jessie along with Leia and Alvin grinned when the half-elf woman’s face turned from pink to red in seconds. 

Bingo.

‘ _I knew it,_ ’ Jude said in his mind.

‘ _I had a feeling that was the case,_ ’ smiled Rowen.

“Ahhh! It is a boy!” Jessie and Leia suddenly screamed in excitement, making Tifa’s elven ears go flat and twitch in slight irritation from the loud noise.

Before Tifa could open her mouth to answer, the bartender returned with another Shiva in his hands.

“Here you go, Miss.”

The dark haired woman thanked the man as he handed her the drink and left.

“So...”

Tifa ignored Jessie and stared at her drink for a long moment. Then without warning, she closed her eyes, raised the glass up to her lips, and quickly threw her head back.

Everyone stared in silent shock as they watched the half-elf woman drain the whole cocktail in just fifteen seconds flat and then slam it down on the countertop, very gently of course, after she was done.

Tifa raised a hand over her mouth, covering the small belch she released, and opened her eyes.

“You said it was a gift, right?” Jude inquired.

She looked at him then at everyone else and spoke.

“Yes. That’s right. It was a gift from...an acquaintance of mine that I met eight years ago in Nibelheim.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have arrived at the final chapter! Now I know I should've done this in the last chapter, but it completely slipped my mind earlier, so I'm going to do it in this chapter. I would like to give shout-outs to a few authors such as [Scribbleness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribbleness), [Hey_Pretty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hey_Pretty), and [SixthNight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SixthNight) as they were the ones who inspired me to use some of the ideas that are featured in this chapter (and was featured in the previous chapter too). So thank you for the inspiration there, guys!
> 
> As for everyone else, I encourage y'all to check out these wonderful people as they write some incredible stories (especially if you like Rufti or Reti). Seriously, go check their work out.
> 
> I would also like to thank [AshFormerlyAura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshFormerlyAura), [bouncymouse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bouncymouse), and SixthNight once again for some of the suggestions/advice you provided me with. It really helped, so thanks again.
> 
> And now without further ado, let's get into the chapter, shall we? I hope you enjoy it!

_Whispers of a new kid in town reached Tifa’s ears and she looked down from her seat on top of the water tower to see a group of seven kids walking below, heading towards the tower. They soon walked past it, completely oblivious to her presence above them, and stopped in their tracks. When they saw and confirmed that no one was around, the kids shared a glance, then gathered around in a circle, and continued their conversation from earlier in low whispers._

_The topic at hand piqued her interest, and so, the little half-elf swung herself off the edge of the metal top. She made a silent landing on the small wooden structure that was connected to it below and took a seat up against the tower, away from the edge of the platform, to avoid being seen by the group._

_“...had some older guy with him. Dark eyes, short black hair, and wore a dark suit.”_

_“Yeah. I heard they both came from Midgar too.”_

_“Do you think they’re rich folks? Because even the blond guy had on clothes that looked pretty fancy.”_

_“How fancy are we talking?”_

_“Leather jacket, dark polo shirt with some cool-looking patterns on it, dress pants, leather shoes, and...I think I saw him wearing a leather belt too. The buckle on it looked really shiny and brand new.”_

_“Yeah! He also had a gold watch on his wrist too. I saw it!”_

_“Wow! That is pretty fancy.”_

_“Well, whoever they are, they looked pretty intimidating.”_

_“I think they looked pretty cool!”_

_“Of course you would think that—Oh... It’s that freak again.”_

_Tifa looked over in the direction of where the boys were staring and saw a flash of blond standing in front of a door._

_It was Cloud._

_There was a deep frown on his face as he looked at the group of kids twenty feet away from him before his sky blue eyes flickered up to where she was at. A shy look crossed his features for a brief moment before his face suddenly went blank, as if he’d just realized something important, and he turned away from them._

_‘Cloud.’_

_“Hmph,” the blond jogged away from his house, ignoring the burning stares of the boys, oblivious of the look she flashed at him, and went up small village steps._

_When he turned and disappeared out of sight, one of the boys spoke up._

_“I never really liked that guy.”_

_“...Yeah, he acts like he’s better than us. And he’s mean too.”_

_“And a freak.”_

_“C’mon, you guys, let’s go play near the Nibel Plains.”_

_“Hey, I thought we were gonna look for Tifa first and ask her to come play with us.”_

_The girl’s elven ears twitched at the mention of her name._

_“I couldn’t find her anywhere.”_

_“Me neither.”_

_“She’s been acting sad and distant from us lately since...you know. I don’t know if she’s even in the mood to want to play. And Mom...well, you guys know how my momma feels about her.”_

_“My dad doesn’t like her either. I can see why, but I still don’t understand why he treats her differently than you-know-who.”_

_“Is that why you two don’t bring up Tifa’s name around your mom and dad?”_

_“Yeah. Cause they’ll tell us not to play with her or be her friend anymore.”_

_Her ears lowered at that._

_“Maybe we should try again next time then?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_The boys left the area after that._

_And once they were out of sight, she rose from her seat and walked towards the edge of the platform. She jumped down, landing on the dirt covered ground gracefully, and wiped the invisible dirt off her frill sleeveless shirt and dark shorts._

_It was a bit sad to hear that not everyone liked her, but what could she do? It’s not like she was asked to be born different from everyone else in the village. Born not human._

_But did that matter?_

_No. It shouldn’t in her opinion._

_She wasn’t mean to anyone...or dangerous like a few of the older kids, or some adults, suggested and whispered every time she walked past them. She was quite the opposite in fact. Nice. Friendly. Outgoing. Wanting to help in any way she can if saw someone who looked liked they needed it. And she would do it because it was the right thing to do. The kind thing to do, she always stressed to people when they asked why. Besides, she liked talking to people, asking them how their day went, or what they were doing. She liked making all kinds of friends, no matter who they were. It was what she was good at._

_So why couldn't they see all of that for themselves? Why do they take one look at her and turn their heads away? Or walk away from her whenever she tries to get their attention? Talk in quiet whispers behind her back? Couldn’t they see how much of that hurt her? Did they even realize that she could hear every single word coming out of their mouths no matter how low or far they have their little conversations away from her?_

_Probably not. They had no clue what a half-elf was. But it’s not like she knew much about what she was either. Her momma, who was a full-blood elf, born from another world where everyone on the entire planet had magic in their blood, told her some stories on a few things, took her and her papa there a few times, and promised to tell her more later on._

_...That is, until she passed away from an unknown illness two years ago._

_“Is there really nothing to do around here in this little backwater town?”_

_A young deep voice that was still soft in tone reached her sensitive non-human ears and Tifa looked up to see someone walking towards her slowly, with their head lowered to the ground, coming out of the direction from that spooky mansion it seemed._

_It was a tall boy, one that was a few years older than her, with short silver blond hair that fell over his forehead and partially covered his azure blue eyes._

_“I guess not,” Tifa heard the teenager sigh, and as soon as he walked down the steps, the young girl leaped back onto the water tower just in time to see the blond haired boy raise his head up. She perched on the metal surface of the structure, taking care not to slip off as she sat back on her heels, and watched him walk up to the tower, then past it, and stop right next to a barrel._

_The older boy surveyed the area for a few seconds, and seeing that no one was around, he turned to face the barrel. After eyeing it for a moment or two, the blond placed a hand on it and hopped up onto the barrel in one smooth motion that surprised the girl_ _._ _Then he pulled out his PHS, white in color, with two charm keychains— a white Chocobo and a black dog with red eyes hanging from it, and began texting someone._

_Blond hair. Fancy black and white clothing. Wears an expensive watch on his wrist. And has a touchscreen smartphone of all things? Yep! This was definitely the new kid the boys talked about earlier, Tifa mused to herself as she continued watching the teenager text on his phone._

_The urge to go down there and talk to him, and introduce herself, was strong but she held herself back. There was this sort of aura around him that she could feel, from way up here even. It clearly spelled ‘don’t bother me’, and she found this a little funny because his attitude reminded her a tiny bit of the way Cloud acted sometimes...when he wasn’t acting all funny around her. But other than that, the two blondes were totally different from each other. Cloud was...Cloud and this rich boy here..._

_‘Well, he does look...cool.’_

_She studied his form, his posture, and the expression on his face some more. He had cold eyes, she decided, and yet, there was something else she could sense lingering beneath them._

_‘And cute too, I guess.’_

_Color bloomed on her cheeks immediately._

_Wait. What!? Why did a thought like that come to her mind just now? Was she crazy!?_

_The teenager suddenly paused and she quickly leaned back, somehow not making a squeak in the process, before his eyes could look up and catch her. When he didn’t spot anything, the blond let out a huff, then shook his head and went back to his phone._

_‘Oh my god! That was a close one!’ she let out an inaudible sigh of relief as her cheeks cooled down._

_He almost spotted her there._

_And despite almost getting caught, Tifa went back to watching him, observing him. She really couldn’t help herself. There was just something so mysterious and intriguing about him._

_Too bad she became bored of watching him, five minutes later. He wasn’t doing anything other than sitting there and scrolling through his smartphone._

_‘I should probably go home now before Papa starts to worry and come looking for me.’_

_The girl took a quick look at the sky and saw the sun setting in the distance, flashing its warm rays of orange light over the mountains, her, and the rest of the village below. It was a beautiful sight to behold, she noted with a smile on her face and watched a small flock of birds fly overhead and into the distance with a faint_ **_caw_** _._

**_DING!_ **

_“Hmm?”_

_There was a pause, which was then followed up by his sigh._

_“What did that red-headed buffoon do now?”_

_Tifa looked away from the scenery and glanced down below to make sure that the blond was still busy with his phone, and seeing that he was, the girl turned to face her home and stood up. She calculated the distance between her bedroom window up on the second floor and her spot on top of the water tower and figured that she could make it._

_She closed her eyes in concentration and summoned her mana, bringing just about an ⅛ of it up to the surface. Her eyes snapped open when a purplish-white and blue veil of energy appeared around her body, and in a flash, it began to shrink, moving towards the middle of her back before making its way up. The mana did not stop until it reached its destination, where it pulsed around her shoulder blades, and exploded in a shower of sparkling lights that fell around her, leaving in its place a beautiful pair of translucent bird wings._

_Her little form became a mere black and white blur as she flew off the water tower and landed in front of her window, leaning forward a bit to pick the lock afterwards._

**_CLICK!_ **

_It came undone about three seconds later, and with a grunt, she raised the window up some, just enough for her to slip in through the crack._

_‘There we go.’_

_The mana wings disappeared once she landed inside, and as soon as the ten year old half-elf got up, she shut the window, locked it back up, and walked away without looking back, not even realizing that a certain someone had caught the whole scene with his blue eyes._

**_xXXXXXXXXx_ **

_The next time she saw him, it was snowing in the month of December._

_She had just got back from having a snowball fight with her friends in the Nibel Plains and entered the village, which was now bustling with activity, and waved at some of the folks she passed as they took in all of the Christmas decorations and lights surrounding them._

_A smile played on her lips when they spotted her and waved back, with their own smiles in place, and she turned her attention back on the trail in front of her once they started walking away, heading in the direction towards one of the shops. Probably to buy gifts, the girl thought to herself as she kept walking on, and passed by one of the lamp poles in the area that had a wreath on it, until she came up to the Shinra Mansion and caught a flash of blond out of the corner of her eye._

_Surprised by this, the little half-elf stopped in her tracks and turned to her right._

_There he was, sitting in an armchair that had been placed right outside of the mansion, talking to a dark haired guy, who looked a few years older than him, in a black suit._

_‘It’s that guy again,’ she stared at the teenager, taking in the black beanie he had on his silver blond head and the winter trench coat he wore on his body this time around, as he leaned back into his seat comfortably. For someone who was not from around here, he sure learned how to dress properly for the weather real quick. She was impressed. ‘I wonder who’s this he’s talking to,’ her eyes strayed over to the dark haired man standing across from him and wondered what their relationship was._

_Was he a friend of his? Servant? Bodyguard? The possibilities were endless as far as she was concerned._

_But still...whoever he was, he looked even more intimidating than the one who was sitting in his chair like a prince right now, with his right foot propped up and resting on his left knee and his left arm thrown over the back of the armchair._

_And that was saying something, considering how intimidating the blond looked in general._

_“Tifa?”_

_Startled, the girl turned around and saw Cloud looking at her in confusion from behind the collar of his navy blue winter coat._

_“What are you—ack!”_

_Tifa grabbed him and hid behind one of the side walls of the stone gate without even thinking about it. “Be quiet, Cloud! You’re gonna get us both caught,” she shushed him, ignoring the way he froze up in her arms, and crouched in the snow to avoid being discovered._

_“Did you hear something?”_

_“Yes, I did.”_

_“It must be those kids again.”_

_“Perhaps. Permission to check the perimeter, sir?”_

_“Go ahead, Tseng.”_

_The sounds of footsteps, faint as they were to Cloud but not to Tifa, could be heard as the person started walking over to their hiding spot, and the only thing the latter could think of was the little spell her momma taught her three years ago._

_‘I hope this works,’ she prayed, releasing the spiky haired boy, and with a few simple gestures of her gloved hand, Tifa casted a spell. ‘There we go!’ the ten year old smiled when she felt a slight cooling sensation wash over her and Cloud, who turned to look at her when he felt it too, and sat still._

_“What did you do?”_

_She looked right back at him with her eyes and smiled. “We’ll be fine, Cloud. Just don’t move, okay?”_

_A look of realization entered his sky blue eyes when he figured out what she had just done, and he nodded his head at her. “Right,” seeing as this would be the only time he would be stuck close to her, Cloud took it. Hiding a smile behind the collar of his coat, the blond turned back around and moved right next to Tifa instead and leaned against her side, letting himself relax under the soothing aura of his next door neighbor and friend._

_The two said nothing when the black haired man named Tseng walked out and stopped some feet away in front of them. With bated breaths, they watched him take a walk around the area, looking like a man on a mission as he checked every single building in the nearby vicinity, and came back to the gate two minutes later, feeling a bit disturbed by the lack of results._

_“I don’t understand,” he murmured before looking over the area once more._

_Cloud resisted the urge to flinch when Tseng’s gaze flew over to their spot and stopped somewhere above their heads, to their right._

_There was a short pause._

_‘Don’t move. Don’t move. You got this, Cloud. He can’t see us.’_

_The man furrowed his brows. “I know I heard something, but there’s nothing here. How can that be?”_

_Tifa smiled when he shook his head and walked away. She waited until at least thirty seconds had passed before taking a peek around the wall, only to be greeted with the sight of Tseng’s back facing her as he reported his findings to the rich teenager._

_“There seems to be no one in the area, sir.”_

_“No one?”_

_“Yes, sir. I checked it over. Thoroughly.”_

_She heard the blond sigh “Those brats are starting to get on my nerves now” to himself before he raised his voice and ordered, “Tseng, go inside and check to make sure that everything is working properly like they are supposed to. I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night again, freezing to death like I did last week.”_

_“As you wish, sir.”_

_When Tseng bowed his head at the blond and walked over to the front door and opened it, then went inside, Tifa let out a sigh of relief._

_‘That worked out pretty well.’_

_“Tifa, can I move now?” Cloud asked in a near whisper._

_The girl blinked. “Oh! Yeah, you can. Sorry, Cloud,” she apologized to him in a whisper, moving away to let the spiky haired boy get up and dust the snow off his pants. She rose from the ground and did the same, while looking over her shoulder to make sure that the other blond was not looking in their direction._

_To her relief he wasn’t, the rich teen was still sitting back in his chair. Only this time, he’d managed to pull a book out from Gaia who knows where, and was now reading it._

_“How long will this invisibility spell of yours last?”_

_Tifa turned to Cloud and noticed a funny look on his face as he stared past her, his gaze firmly locked on to the other blond. “I will give it another, umm, three minutes or so. I didn’t put a whole lot of energy into the spell to make it last that long,” she answered with a frown, wondering what is up with her spiky haired neighbor. He seemed to be frustrated with something— or someone, a certain someone, by the looks of things. “Hey Cloud,” she waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention. “Earth to Cloud.”_

_It worked as Cloud blinked and snapped out of whatever weird mood he was in earlier. “Huh?” he turned his eyes to her. “What is it, Tifa?”_

_“Let’s get out of here before this spell wears off, okay?” she suggested. “You lead and I’ll follow you.”_

_Cloud gave her a strange look before he turned around, flinging some snow around in the process, and said, “Okay.”_

_She knew what was going to happen next. ‘Oh no! Please, please, don’t land on_ _—’_ _Tifa watched him take off, the sound of his footsteps crunching loudly in the snow as a cloud of it flew up into the air, ‘—me. Greeeat!’ and landed back down on her, coating half of her body in a fine layer of white slush. “Thanks a lot, Cloud,” she mumbled sarcastically with a stomp of her foot, pouting at his retreating form that she could still see in the very far distance up ahead._

**_CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!_ **

_Reality finally kicked in and she became aware of the danger approaching her from behind very quickly._

_‘Okay! Time to go now!’_

_Before she could even take a single step, she heard his voice._

_“You do realize that I can see you, right, kid?”_

_Her eyes went wide in horror. That sounded a little way too close for her liking._

_‘Don’t tell me...he’s...’_

_Tifa slowly turned around and almost jumped out of her skin at the sight of the tall blond standing three feet away from her, looking down at her invisible form, still covered in snow, in confusion. There was even a bit of curiosity she could spot in his cold eyes too, but she really wasn’t worried about that right now._

_What she would like to know is...how in the world did he sneak up on her? Did he do it while Cloud and her were talking a minute ago?_

_“Who are you?” he demanded, his voice suspicious._

_God, could things really get any worse than this?!_

**_BZZZT!_ **

_Apparently it did._

_Tifa flinched as her invisibility spell flickered for just a split second before fixing itself back in place, but it was too late now. He already saw her._

_And now, he was staring at her in deep shock._

_“You’re—” he was cut off by a snowball to the face._

_“I’m sorry!” she whirled around as he fell on his back into the snow and took off from the area, ignoring the “Wait” he threw at her retreating form. ‘I’m probably gonna regret that later if we ever run into each other again for a third time.’_

_The thought of their next possible meeting made her a little anxious; however, that feeling went away the moment she reached the middle of town twenty seconds later. Waving at a few of her friends that she spotted near the water tower, who looked up in surprise when she jogged right past them, Tifa turned left and made a beeline for her home._

**_xXXXXXXXXx_ **

_It was official. She was cursed. She had the worst luck in the world._

_Tifa had been out of the village and climbing the mountains in Mt. Nibel all morning long. It wasn’t until she checked the time and saw that it was after two in the afternoon that she decided to stop for the day. Thankfully she didn’t run into any monsters on her way home and right as she walked into town, with the Shinra Mansion in plain view up ahead, the young girl ran into some trouble._

_And that trouble happened to be a group of four teenagers. Two boys and two girls. All of them were scowling at her, looking at her like she was nothing more than scum to them._

_They taunted her, spat a few insults at her, and at one point, one of the boys looked like he wanted to harm her, if the poorly disguised rock hidden inside of the snowball she spied in his left hand was any indication._

_Before the guy could throw it though, a voice that Tifa hadn’t heard in three weeks cut in._

_“Is there a problem here, gentlemen, ladies?”_

_The four teenagers and Tifa turned around._

_“We were...” the teenaged boy with the snowball-rock in his hand trailed off at the chilly look he caught in the stranger’s blue eyes._

_The silver blond haired teen arched a brow at the boy. “You were what?”_

_He flinched at his tone and dropped the snowball-rock immediately. “Nothing,” he answered lamely, ignoring the audible_ **_thud_ ** _it made when it hit the snow covered ground, his tough act withering away at the sight of the blond, who stood about an inch-and-a-half taller than him, staring at him in a frosty manner._

_That had been the wrong thing to say, apparently, as the temperature around them seemed to have dropped_ **_several_ ** _degrees, despite the weather already being cold out here._

_The boy turned his friends and said, “Let’s get out of here.”_

_The other three quickly nodded their heads. Then all four of them took off running, almost knocking poor Tifa over in the process, who managed to move out of the way in time, towards the exit leading out of Nibelheim._

_Unfortunately for Tifa, due to her clumsy movements, she still fell on the ground._

**_THUD!_ **

_Tifa winced when her back made contact with the cold slush, and she sat up with a gasp, shaking the snow off her beanie covered head, then blinked in surprise at the gloved hand that was extended out to her. The girl blinked again and looked up to see the blond teenager staring down at her, giving her a silent look that blatantly told her to just take his hand, which she did._

_“Thank you.”_

_He pulled the young girl to her feet, then released her hand and watched her dust the snow off her jeans._

_Tifa looked up once she was done and blinked at the soft look he had on his face. Then his eyes strayed over to her ears and she became surprised at the glint of curiosity, not disgust, she saw in them. “I...uhh...” she looked away in embarrassment when his eyes snapped back to hers and found the courage she needed to say what needed to be said, “About what happened last time...I’m sorry for throwing that snowball at you,” she turned back to him with a crooked smile in place. “It’s just...you surprised me, that’s all.”_

_The blond shook his head. “Think nothing more of it...Tifa,” he said, shocking the girl. “I have already forgiven you for your...transgression,” he added a beat later. ‘Just this once.’_

_“How do you know my name? I never gave it to you.”_

_He inwardly smiled at the suspicious look she gave him. “I believe those four said it, yes?” he nodded his head in the direction of where the teenagers ran off to. It wasn’t a complete lie, but it wasn’t the full truth either. She didn’t have to know that he already knew her name. Not yet, at least. “You’re the Mayor’s daughter, correct?”_

_“Yes,” she stared at him in surprise. “You met my papa?”_

_“Sort of.”_

_Tifa narrowed her shiny vermilion red-amber eyes at him. That sounded like a half-truth, just like the one he gave her when she asked him how did he know her name. Even if she were to ask him again, she had a feeling that he would either ignore it or change the subject._

_Again._

_So she looked at the ground and let out a small sigh instead._

_“Yeah, well, thanks again for helping me out there. I guess I owe you one.”_

_The blond noticed the girl shuffling her feet, as if she was trying to stay warm and show him that the weather wasn’t affecting her that much, and he shook his head at her. “No need,” he said before turning around. “Follow me.”_

_“Huh?” Tifa raised her head and stared at the blond teenager’s back in confusion._

_“I imagine you must be very cold right now.”_

_Tifa blushed. Guess she failed at hiding that, didn’t she?_

_“I am.”_

_“Then you won’t be opposed to the idea of being in a place where you can warm up at?”_

_She blinked, as her blush faded, and said, “No. Not really.”_

_He looked over his shoulder at her. “Good,” he turned back around and walked away. “Let’s go.”_

_Tifa stared at the blond’s figure getting further and further away from her until he stopped, and this prompted her to run after him._

_When she caught up to him, he resumed his walk._

_“Where are we going?”_

_He looked down at the girl walking beside him._

_“The mansion.”_

_“Oh.”_

_An awkward silence rolled in and filled the space between them with tension as Tifa fiddled with the sleeve of her white winter coat, while glancing up at the stoic blond by her side every so often, and the teenager looked ahead, not paying her glances any mind._

_That is until she decided to break it._

_“Hey,” he side-eyed her. “That word you used earlier...trans-gress-ion, I think,” he looked impressed that she managed to pronounce that word correctly, and on her first try too. “What does that mean?”_

_He withheld a smile. Despite her maturity, and the way she talked, Tifa was still just a ten year old girl. She was very different from the Tifa Lockhart he knew...but at the same time, she was still that same old person he remembered from long ago, deep down inside, and that put him at ease a little._

_“A crime. An offense.”_

_Tifa blanched at that._

_This time, he didn’t hold back his smile._

_“I...see. Thank you for telling me that,” she weakly choked out._

_He laughed._

* * *

Tifa raised the glass of her Shiva to her lips and took a long sip after she finished telling her story, very aware of the stares she was receiving from the group. Especially Jessie’s. She knew what that look meant.

“Aw man!”

“That’s it?” asked a pouting Leia and a disappointed Alvin.

“He didn’t give you his name?” Jude raised a brow in confusion. 

Rowen nodded in agreement, his expression mirroring his friend’s.

Tifa set her half-empty glass down and leaned against the granite bar top with her elbow. “Nope. He never did,” she laid her head in the palm of her hand and closed her eyes. “Something told me that even if I did ask for his name, he wasn't going to give it to me. And I was right. He didn’t, even after all that time we spent together. For two years. On and off.”

Jude stared at his cousin as she started drumming her fingers on the polished surface of the countertop slowly. “What do you mean by that?” he asked, narrowing his amber eyes at her as she opened her own.

“I had tried asking him before he left that next year and all he said to me was ‘One day. Maybe one day, Lockhart’. Tch, as if that was supposed to mean something! But knowing him, it probably did,” Tifa paused right as a thought crossed her mind. “Actually, there were times where I felt like he...it was as if he knew some things, had something on his mind that he wouldn’t tell me about. He even knew my name before I gave it to him and treated me with familiarity, which confused the hell out of me at the time. We weren’t even _that_ close and yet...” she took the bandanna out with her free hand and stared at it once more, “He gave me this, something personal of his to keep, which had to have meant something, right? Because I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have done that, or cheered me up if he hated me.”

Jude stayed silent and just listened to his cousin speak.

“And I can’t say much for the other people we were with a few times because...well...he acted like an asshole to them,” Tifa looked back at the black spiky haired man, “Especially to Cloud. But then again, Cloud was being mean to him first, so...” and trailed off with a shrug.

“That does sound strange when you put it like that,” Jude said with a thoughtful look on his face. 

Tifa caught the look on Rowen’s face as he stroked his beard and wondered what his thoughts were. 

“Something on your mind, Rowen?”

“Hmm...yes. Come to think of it,” he began, as he raised his head, and looked right at the half-elf woman. “I seem to recall you fussing at that red-headed fellow you fought in the tournament this morning. The one named Reno. It looked as if he knew you too.”

An odd look suddenly appeared on Tifa’s face “Oh. Him,” she lifted her head away from her hand, then laid her arm back down on the bar top. “Yeah. He sure acted like it and I found that really strange too.”

“Perhaps there's a connection there. They both know something that you don’t, and at the same time, they know who you are. Maybe you _have_ met them before and you just don’t remember it,” he offered.

Tifa looked down. “I don’t know about that,” she said, staring at her drink for a moment before she picked it up and downed the rest of it. “But still...I can see where you’re coming from, Rowen, because some teeny tiny part of me didn’t mind the way they treated me. The familiarity, I mean. I actually liked it a little. Secretly. And maybe that is why I felt drawn to that blond haired guy...and that Reno guy to some extent,” she confessed, gripping the fabric she still had in her hand tightly as her cheeks turned a nice shade of pink.

Her response left them all in shock.

“Oh?” Rowen recovered first and he along with Jude, who recovered right after him, smiled. “Is that so?” the former inquired.

Tifa looked away in silence, but the blush on her face, which grew darker in response to his question, said it all. Yet, she ignored the group in favor of tying the bandanna around her neck instead of putting it away.

Jessie laughed, finding the whole thing adorable, and called the bartender over to order some more drinks.

After all, they were just getting started.

**xXXXXXXXXx**

As the night wore on, the bar soon became filled with even more laughter and talking that surrounded her from all sides due to the night crowd coming in. It was packed now. 

And despite the amount of drinks that Tifa and the others have consumed by now, even she will admit that the music has gotten louder, changed to something that was more in tune with the atmosphere inside the building as a few people from every other table made their way over towards the bottom floor, which was located around the corner on the other side of the room. 

It was a miracle how Tifa hadn’t seen that part of the bar yet when she and Jessie first walked into the building, so overall, yes, she was shocked by the whole thing. 

“Is that what I think it is?”

Jessie followed her line of sight and saw the strobe lights hanging from the high ceiling, right in-between the disco ball that was there, flashing its LED lights all over the monochrome walls that were filled with beautiful paintings, as well as gemstones that were embedded here and there, and onto the crowd of people dancing on the marble tiled dance floor below, lighting the whole area up in a field of blue-white and pink-purple. 

And there, sitting at the back, on a stage, was the DJ himself, playing with his setup as he adjusted the volume of the music on his large DJ mixer controller board and talked to the dancing folks through the microphone headset he wore on top of his black hat that was turned backwards on his head, all with a million-watt smile on his face. He had green hair, which could be seen peeking out through the back panel of the hat, goldenrod eyes, and wore a long gold chain necklace around his neck.

“A dance floor you mean? Yep!” she answered with a cheer, her cheeks flushed bright red. “This bar joint also serves as a nightclub too. Pretty amazing, huh?”

Tifa mumbled a “Mhmn” as she laid her head in the cushion of her arms, which were now resting on top of the bar counter. She was a little flushed as well, and from what she could see out of the corner of her eye, her cousin and his friends were too. 

“Oh my god! No way!”

“Did that really happen, Alvin?”

“Hell yeah it did! It was hilarious! And I caught it all on camera too with my GHS!”

‘ _I guess we’re all a little drunk up here,_ ’ the half-elf woman remarked, wincing a little at the howl of laughter Jessie and Leia released from some story Alvin had told them. ‘ _Well...some more than others,_ ’ a small giggle of laughter escaped from her lips when she caught sight of Jude almost falling out of his stool, and he would have to if Rowen hadn’t steadied him.

“Miss Tifa?”

“Yes?” Tifa stopped laughing and looked up to see the bartender sit a red colored alcohol beverage down in front of her. “Umm...” she stared at the Cosmo Canyon drink for a moment before looking back up at him in confusion, “I don’t remember ordering this, sir.”

“You didn’t,” there was a smirk on the man’s face as he pointed somewhere behind her. “But that handsome young lad over there did. Told me that it’s for you.”

Tifa blinked, turning around in her stool to see where he was pointing at. There were two men sitting in a booth about two tables down from where she was sitting at, and they were two men who she was familiar with too, she thought to herself with wide eyes. 

‘ _Oh my god...!_ ’

She couldn’t help but stare in shock at the beat up Reno, who was looking a bit flushed in the face and nursing a beer in his hands. Then she moved her gaze over to the one sitting next to him and became floored by the man’s identity.

Cloudy azure blue eyes clashed with her hazy vermilion red-amber ones. 

‘ _It’s him,_ ’ Tifa stared at the red-faced blond as he raised his glass up to her, gave her a smirk, and then a wink before looking away to take an elegant sip of his drink. ‘ _I can’t believe it’s really him!_ ’ she blinked and turned back around to give the bartender an easygoing smile that masterfully hid the emotions churning inside of her. “Umm, thank you, err...”

The man returned her smile. “It’s Damien, but you may call me Mr. D if you don’t want to use my name,” he bowed his head in a nod and said, “And you’re welcome, Miss Tifa.”

When he left, Tifa looked at her Cosmo Canyon, picked it up, and turned back to the two men who were now talking to each other.

“Did someone catch your eye, Tifa?”

She glanced at Rowen for a hot second before her eyes flew back over to the blond and Reno.

“Oho, I see.”

Tifa blushed at the sly look he threw in her direction as well as the tone of voice he used. “It’s not like that, Rowen! I just—”

Rowen placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright, Tifa,” he soothed her, lowering his voice some and in a soft manner that was meant to sound reassuring. “If you want to go over there, then go ahead. I won’t stop you,” he said before dropping his hand away from her.

“But what about—”

“I already informed Jessie that I will be paying for all your guys’ drinks,” he said and gave the half-elf woman a grandfatherly smile. “My treat,” he added when he noticed her hesitation.

Tifa looked at her Cosmo Canyon for a second or two and then moved her gaze back over to Rowen. “Alright,” the young woman nodded. “I’ll go,” she turned around and got up from her seat, with her drink in hand and the look of determination flashing brightly in her shiny eyes.

“Have fun.”

She walked away from the group, while tuning out Jude’s question when he turned to Rowen and asked him where Tifa was going, and made a beeline for the booth the men were in.

‘ _Maybe this time I can finally get a hold of his name._ ’

**xXXXXXXXXx**

“Good evening, gentlemen!”

At the sound of her voice, the two men paused in their conversation and looked up. Reno’s eyes lit up at the sight of the half-elf woman standing in front of them. 

“Hey babe!” he greeted enthusiastically, watching Tifa slide into their booth on the other side and sit her drink down. “You finally decided to join the boss and I!” he added, totally ignoring the death glare his said boss was giving him right now. 

Tifa looked up, confused. “Huh?” she looked between the blond and redhead, then blurted out, “Your boss? You work for him!?”

Reno grinned at the shocked woman as he leaned back into his seat with his arms folded behind his head and his legs stretched out underneath the booth. “Yep!” he replied, watching her pick up the glass and take a few sips. “Been workin’ for him at a new company for some years now, but I’ve known the guy for like a _looooong_ time. Ain’t dat right, Ruffy?” he threw a cheeky side-glance at the blond, barely dodging his quick fist, inwardly laughing at the ‘wtf’ look on his face and how incredibly pissed off the man was.

Tifa swallowed quickly before she could choke on her drink, then took a few seconds to make sure it didn’t go down the wrong way. When it didn’t, the half-elf woman placed her tumbler glass back down on the table and turned her attention back onto them.

“Ruffy?”

The incredulous look on her face put a smile on his. But it was the one on Rufus’ face, who looked like he wanted to grab him and choke him right then and there, that made him want to cackle out loud. 

And he should’ve, but he decided not to. 

Reno held himself back and, instead, went about clearing up the young woman’s confusion.

“His name’s actually Rufus, but I call him dat sometimes just to tease him, or give him shit. You can look at it however you want, babe.”

At the redhead’s clarification, the look from Tifa’s face disappeared.

“Oh. I see. So dat’s what thee ‘R’ initial on the bandanna means. His first name,” she slurred around her words a bit, her voice sounding extremely quiet.

Reno had to bite back a laugh at the next look that appeared on Tifa’s face when she turned to Rufus and grilled him on why didn't he tell her his name back then when they were in Nibelheim. Honestly, it was a very entertaining sight to behold, watching a powerful man like his boss here squirm just the _tiniest_ bit under Tifa Lockhart’s glare— or anyone’s glare in general for that matter. 

But then again, from what he remembered, the woman could make anyone, no matter who they were, cave under her glare or looks. And she did a few times. That had been fun to witness, when he and his fellow Turks weren’t under fire from her for once.

‘ _Ah, those were de good o’ days. Man, I sure miss my partner and the director._ ’

A soft look entered his turquoise eyes as he observed the two, catching pieces of their conversation as they spoke of the days of what they did in Nibelheim. And though he didn’t show it on his face, Reno knew the bossman was happy to see Tifa. 

It was the glint in his eyes that gave it away.

Sure, it was barely visible, as he knew Rufus wasn’t the type to wear his heart out on his sleeves, but it was there. You just gotta be observant enough to catch them. Or get to know him long enough to pick up on the subtleties.

But with alcohol involved...

Well, that becomes a whole different story, Reno laughed to himself. His boss can be quite the riot sometimes when drunk, he laughed some more as he continued to watch Rufus and Tifa talk, then noticed the look on the flushed woman's face when she took a long sip of her drink before putting the now-half-empty glass down.

It matched the one that bossman had in his eyes, only hers was more visible. He knew that despite her mood from earlier, Tifa was happy to see Rufus and—

Wait a minute. 

He narrowed his eyes. 

No, there had to be something more than that. 

So the red-headed Turk took a closer look, paying close attention to the emotions she was showing right now, as well as her body language.

‘ _Well lookie here._ ’

It was the pink blush on her cheeks that gave it all the way, and they only got darker because of the hair flip Rufus did just now ( _how the fuck his boss managed to do that with that god forsaken hat still on his ungelled head, he didn’t know_ ). Hell, even the smirk, which looked a little too daring and flirtatious to ignore, he threw at her afterwards ( _and the man had said he wasn’t drunk earlier. What a goddamn liar he was_ ) left the poor woman a blushing mess.

Now, he don’t know if it was the alcohol in him talking, but it almost seemed as if she—

“Reno?”

Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Reno?” she called his name again.

He blinked and saw the pink slowly fading away from Tifa's cheeks just a bit, then noticed her staring at him worriedly.

“Yeah, what?”

“What happened to your face?”

Reno blinked and reached up to touch the light bruise around his left eye, then the cuts on his right cheek, and held back a wince. Oh right. He almost forgot about them...until she brought the subject up. “Oh dis, you mean?” he asked, cracking out a smile despite the pain he felt from the movement pulling at them. 

Tifa nodded.

“Well, it’s—”

“We had a little bit of a...disagreement, that’s all,” Rufus remarked slowly, butting in while giving the woman a charming smile. “There was a game, you see. Some...unpleasant or unsavory words were said...and things got out of hand,” he paused and then shook his head to remove whatever thought he had in mind a second ago. “But we made up and everything is fine now.”

Reno knew exactly what the man was trying to do. He wasn't stupid. “Umm...” 

“Isn’t that right, Reno?”

Rufus was still smiling at Tifa, but the red-headed Turk could _feel_ the _warning_ in the side-glance he was giving him, daring him to say something. 

Yeah, Reno bit back a grimace. He’s not gonna chance it.

“Yeah! That’s right,” he turned back to Tifa with a smirk and gave her a wink, much to his boss’ displeasure. “We’re...uhh...cool now. So don’t worry ya pretty little head over me, babe. I’ll be fine.”

Tifa looked between the two with narrowed eyes. Though she wanted to call them both out on their bullshit right now, she didn’t have the energy to do so. 

Plus, she was a little too drunk at the moment to want to deal with...whatever was going on between the two of them, so she let it go.

“Right...if you say so.”

Reno grinned at her, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw his boss lean back in his seat and close his eyes, his posture now relaxed. He turned back to Tifa just as she was picking her drink back up to finish the last of it off and asked the first thing that came to his mind. 

“So dat Jude guy you fought in the finals...he’s your cousin, huh?”

Tifa sat her empty glass down and looked at him.

With a smile, she began to tell him and Rufus all about her amazing cousin Jude.

**xXXXXXXXXx**

About an hour later into their conversation, all three of them were starting to feel tired, and despite the amount of alcohol they consumed earlier, they ordered one more drink— well Reno and Rufus did. But not Tifa. She was done. The former had ordered another Moogle Straight while the latter ordered another Junon Ale.

However, the red-headed Turk had conked out the minute he finished his drink.

Tifa glanced at the snoozing man, who had his head turned and buried in his arms that were sitting on top of the table, next to his collection of empty tumblers that were all lined up against the wall, and smiled at him before turning back to Rufus.

Like him, she was wide awake and feeling the full effects of all the alcohol now, still carrying on with their conversation.

“...and she lifted the guy...I think, and then threw him in da lake after he, umm, made a...not-so-nice remark about my...style of dressing.”

Or, tried to anyway. 

Goddamn it. This is why she tries not to overdo it with the alcohol, because it tended to fuck with her cognitive skills...and her speech a bit! 

Rufus chuckled. “This friend of yours...she sounds like...an in-terest-ing per...son,” he said, stumbling over his words, then cursed himself on the inside for doing so, before tipping the bottle over his lips and finishing off his drink in one smooth gulp. “And it’s a...robot of all things,” he added with a smirk, as if he just thought of something funny, and sat the bottle down, next to his own pile of empty glasses that were in front of him, before placing his arms on the table.

And it seemed like she wasn't alone in that department. How interesting.

Tifa giggled. “Yeah...Ruby is one of a kind,” she stated, closing her eyes with a fond smile on her face. “She’s like my best friend in de whole wide world. She’s been with me for...well...as long as I can remember. She’s like family to me.”

Before Rufus could respond, they were interrupted by Rowen who came up and tapped Tifa on the shoulder.

“Yes?” she opened eyes and saw her cousin standing behind him, supporting Jessie, who was fast asleep against his shoulder, then took a peek behind them to see Alvin carrying Leia, who was also asleep, in his arms.

“We’re going to take these two back to their rooms before turning in for the night,” Rowen informed her. 

“And before you ask, we’re all staying at the same hotel, Diamond Ray Inn. It’s about...ten miles away from the one you’re staying at,” Jude piped in when he saw the look in her tired eyes.

“Okay,” Tifa nodded. “Good night you guys.”

“Good night.”

Before the group left, they gave Rufus a nod in greeting, but not before Alvin said “Take care of her, blondie. And don’t you try anything funny...or else” and made a slicing gesture towards his neck.

Tifa smacked her forehead with a groan after they walked away, and blushed when she heard Rufus’ low chuckle. “I’m so sorry about them, Rufus. I’m sure Alvin didn’t...well...mean it,” she apologized, removing her hand away from her face, and became surprised at the slight look of amusement present on his face when she looked at him. 

He shook his head. “It’s fine...there is no need for you to apologize on the behalf of your friend’s words,” he said, stifling a yawn as he raised an elbow and leaned his head against his hand, with his eyes firmly glued onto her. “They are only looking out for your well-being.”

That intense stare of his...it almost made her want to blush, but she managed to push it down before it could show up on her face. 

“Mhmn,” she agreed before letting out a yawn. 

“Tired?”

Tifa opened her eyes to see Rufus getting up from his seat. “Yeah,” she replied, watching him with half-lidded eyes as he pulled out a wallet from his back pocket.

Rufus looked at her and said, “Wait here while I’ll go over to the bar and pay. Reno and I will walk you back to your hotel,” he left the booth before she could even open her mouth to refuse.

Tifa slowly shook her head with a sigh and mumbled “He’s still a gentleman...even after all these years” before glancing over at the redhead who was still miraculously asleep, even after all that talking she and Rufus did. 

‘ _Guess I should try waking him up._ ’

However, she was relieved of that job when Rufus came strolling back to the booth. Then he turned and took one good look at the sleeping redhead. Without a word, he brought his fingers near the man’s head and snapped them, and she watched with shocked eyes as Reno shot up from the table with a “Huh”, looking around the area with his eyes until they landed on her and then on Rufus. 

“Get up. We’re leaving...and escorting Tifa back to her hotel.”

Reno didn’t have to be told twice as he slid out of the booth, mumbling a quick “Sorry for sleeping on da job, sir” to his boss.

Sir, huh? That sure brought back some memories and reminded her of that Tseng guy who she saw once and called Rufus that before a few times, Tifa mused to herself as she watched the silver blond haired man say nothing in response to his apology and let the redhead walk ahead of him.

‘ _I wonder if there’s a connection there too,_ ’ she walked over to her acquaintance.

Rufus turned to face her when she stopped by his side. “Where to?” he asked and started walking after his Turk.

Tifa followed. “Ray Crystal La Vita,” she answered immediately, inwardly patting herself on the back for a job well-done on not mucking the name up in her condition.

“Ah, good. We’re heading in the same direction then.”

“Wait...you two are staying in the same hotel as I’m in?”

“Yes.”

**xXXXXXXXXx**

The cool night air felt good on her flushed skin as she walked beside an equally flushed Rufus with a sleepy Reno trailing behind them, keeping an eye out for their surroundings. She glanced up at the man who had an arm wrapped around her waist. It was mainly to support her and keep her from falling again, and she blushed pink, remembering how she tripped upon walking out of the bar earlier. 

Thankfully Rufus had caught her in time before she could embarrass herself in front of him and Reno. 

He did not release her after that, however, and the man silenced any complaints she had when he told her to just accept his help while he was graciously offering it, lest she wanted to fall a second time and make contact with the ground for real.

So she stopped ( _and she wanted to hit him for that comment too, but thought better of it and just left it alone_ ).

“What is it?” 

Tifa blinked, seeing Rufus’ azure blue eyes looking down at her. “Nothing,” she looked away before he could see her cheeks turn a shade darker. 

“Doesn’t seem like it’s nothing.”

“I said it’s _nothing_ ,” she insisted, still not looking at him.

Rufus blinked and shook his head, deciding not to argue with the stubborn woman, and looked away from her.

Silence filled the space between them as they all continued walking through the city and, aside from the occasional sounds of a few people walking by and chatting in low but excited voices, the trio avoided the areas that were a bit crowded.

They took a few shortcuts and turned a few corners until they finally arrived at the hotel building they were staying in.

**xXXXXXXXXx**

“Wait, Reno.”

The red-headed Turk turned around and looked at the young woman who was standing inside of his hotel room that he shared with Rufus, then looked at his boss who was leaning against the doorway with his back turned to them, arms folded across his chest from what it seemed, before turning his eyes back onto Tifa.

“What?” he walked up to her.

“Here. Stand still,” with a friendly smile, Tifa reached up and gently placed a hand on the side of his face.

“What are you...” Reno trailed off in shock as a greenish-yellow and white glow surrounded his whole body, instantly taking away the dull pain that he’d been feeling ever since he woke up back at the bar. 

Tifa dropped her hand. “You should be good now.”

‘ _Did she just..._ ’ when the light faded away, Reno touched his face, only to discover that the bruise around his eye and the cuts on his cheek were no longer there. ‘ _Holy Minerva! She did!_ ’

She giggled at the look of pure awe on his face. “Healer,” she said, instantly grabbing his attention. “It’s a pretty simple spirit arte that can be used to heal yourself or your allies,” she explained as he dropped his hand away from his face.

Reno nodded. “Still, you didn’t have to heal me, ya know.”

Tifa tilted her head. “That may be true, yes,” she clasped her hands behind her back and gave him a warm smile that nearly put a blush on his face. “But I wanted to. So I hope you didn’t mind.”

The Turk’s eyes turned soft. “Nah, I didn’t!” he grinned, as he recovered from the unexpected feeling that gripped him seconds ago, and gave the woman his signature wink. “Thanks, babe. You're an angel!”

She giggled. “I wouldn’t go as far as to say that, but you’re welcome.”

“Tifa.”

Tifa turned to see Rufus still standing in the doorway, except he was now tapping his foot on the carpet floor very quietly. 

Well, quiet to anyone else’s ears except for hers.

“You should go now,” Reno said in a low voice from behind her, sensing his boss’ impatience.

Tifa looked at the redhead over her shoulder, “I guess this is goodbye for now,” and smiled at him. “But maybe, just maybe, we’ll see each other again. One day, I hope?”

He returned her smile with a grin. “Maybe.”

Tifa waved at him, then turned on her heel, and walked over to Rufus. 

Hearing her approach, the silver blond haired man pushed himself off the doorway. He stepped aside to let her walk out of the room, and with a quick look thrown in Reno’s direction, Rufus closed the door behind him and walked after Tifa.

“Which floor?”

“This one. It’s just over on the other side of the hall, near the elevators,” came Tifa’s answer.

**xXXXXXXXXx**

When they arrived at her door, Tifa pulled out a key card and placed it on the entrance system above the door handle. It unlocked with a low **_beep_** and Tifa opened the door. 

Before she went inside, however, the young woman turned around to face Rufus, pocketed the key card, and leaned against the threshold. “Thank you for walking me back to my room, Rufus,” she paused, looking away for a moment to think of her next words before turning back to him. “And it was great seeing you again after all these years. I...really had a lot of fun talking to you and Reno back at the bar.”

“Yes, today was...pleasant for me too.”

At the sight of his smile, Tifa shuffled her feet, and looked down at the ground. 

‘ _Come on, Tifa, just say it!_ ’

The young half-elf woman bit her lip, and debated on revealing her thoughts to him, until Rufus spoke up.

“It’s getting late and I have an early flight tomorrow morning, so—”

Panic gripped her when she saw him turn around, with the intention of getting ready to leave, and Tifa did the only thing she could think of right at that moment. She reached out and grabbed his hand, halting him in his tracks.

“Wait.”

Surprised by the odd tone in her low voice, the blond haired man turned back to Tifa and looked at her curiously, not even bothering to free his hand from hers.

“I won’t say that this is a goodbye, because it’s not. I have a feeling we’ll see each other again someday,” she began, looking about as nervous as a kitten under his gaze. “Don’t know when or where, but I feel like it will happen. So in the meantime, can we...” she trailed off, unable to finish her words, and looked up at Rufus.

He was silent. Except, there was a pinch between his eyebrows, showing her how confused he looked.

“I’m not quite following you. What are you trying to say?”

Tifa’s shoulders sagged as she let out a sigh. “Just...give me your phone for a second.”

Rufus raised a brow at her sudden request.

“Please...Rufus.”

Though his confusion deepened, Rufus complied with her request as he pulled out his PHS with his free hand and gave it to her. He watched her pull out her own phone, black and red in color, and realization set in when he saw Tifa type something on his phone before doing the same with hers, then handed his PHS back to him.

“I added my home number and cell number into your phone and sent you a text with my phone,” she said, putting her PHS away. “At least with this, we can stay in contact with each other and...you know...chat,” she added, giving him a small smile.

Rufus nodded and pocketed his phone.

Feeling a little bit bolder now, especially with the alcohol still swimming in her system and giving her a bit of courage, she stood on her tiptoes and leaned forward, surprising the man yet again, to place a kiss on his cheek.

He froze on the spot and felt his heart kick him in the chest when he caught the look of _warmth_ in her eyes, which glowed so beautifully under the hall light near them. “Good night, Rufus,” he heard her breathe next to his ear and there was no mistaking the heat he felt coming from her cheeks. “Have a safe flight in the morning.”

Tifa pulled away and was about to let go of his hand until she felt it tighten around hers and sensed him leaning forward. 

Confused, she looked up. “Ru—” her eyes rounded when she felt his lips brush over her cheek, making her suck in a deep breath. 

A moment of silence passed between them as she watched him pull back, only to get the shock of her life when he raised her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it.

The tingling sensation she felt afterwards, which ran straight through her whole body, nearly made her knees buckle. But thankfully she held it together.

Rufus smirked and released her hand.

“Good night, Tifa.”

The young woman said nothing as he turned around and walked away from her. 

She waited until he reached the end of the hall and turned the corner before making her way inside the room. The young woman didn’t bother turning any lights on as she shut the door behind her, locked it, and walked into the living room with the intention of heading towards one of the two bedrooms in the suite. 

However, she didn’t get too far.

“I heard and saw all of that, you know.”

Tifa paused mid-step in her walk and turned to the left to see Ruby leaning over the back of the couch and on her crossed arms, her long bushy tail flickering behind her lazily as she regarded her with a peculiar expression on her face.

“You’re still up?”

“Yes and I can see that you’re clearly drunk,” Ruby pointed out, shaking her head at Tifa in amusement when the half-elf woman ignored her and continued on her way to the room she was headed for. 

“Well, do whatever you want, Ruby, but I’m going to bed.”

The anthropomorphic fobbit followed Tifa into the bedroom, catching the tail end of the young woman’s figure disappearing into the bathroom. She walked over to one of the chairs nearby a desk that was sitting across from the bed and took a seat in it and waited. 

Ten minutes later, Tifa came out dressed in a pair of black and white flannel pajamas, with her other clothes folded up in one of her hands. She walked over to a large backpack that was sitting on the floor next to the bed, bent down, and unzipped it with her free hand.

“Listen, hime,” Ruby began, watching the woman place her clothes inside of a smaller bag and then sit that inside of the backpack. “While I don’t care who you hang out with, make friends with, or crush on...but that guy there...” she trailed off and went quiet.

Tifa looked up and stared at her robotic friend.

“What about him? Do you know him or something?”

Ruby’s eyes flashed for a moment before she turned away. “Well...”

“If you’re trying to tell me that Rufus is a dangerous man or something, please don’t bother,” Tifa told her softly and looked at the floor. “I know that there’s a chance he might be, but I really don’t care. And besides—” she looked back up, grabbing the booster-toy’s attention, “—he’s the one I told you all about eight years ago. The one who saved me from those bullies a week before Christmas, the one who hung out with me from time to time, and the one who gave me that bandanna you saw while we were still living in Nibelheim.”

‘ _I see,_ ’ the expression on Ruby’s face changed and her face softened just a bit. “Still,” she paused and turned away again with a sigh. “Just be careful, okay?” 

Tifa flashed her smile as she zipped up her backpack and stood up from the floor.

“I will.”

Ruby nodded and watched her pull the covers back and climb into bed.

“Good night, Ruby,” she closed her eyes and turned on side, facing away from the anthropomorphic fobbit.

“Good night, Tifa-hime.”

Silence engulfed the dark room after that.

Ruby jumped down from her chair and landed on the carpet without a sound. She left the bedroom and walked back over to the living room couch where a bunch of blankets were spread out, then moved them aside, and laid down.

With a yawn, the booster-toy pulled the blankets over her and closed her ruby red eyes, shutting down for the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes our little short story.
> 
> Now, there's a few more things I want to say.
> 
> Before I started this fic, I only planned on it being a simple stand-alone kind of story. But, seeing as I've put so much stuff into this and became invested with the whole fic, I have decided to turn this stand-alone thing into a whole series. Now I don't know how long or how short this will be just yet, but I do know that it will be centered around Tifa and the others as they go through life and either live it the best way they can or destroy it.
> 
> So yeah, for the most part, this series will be AU. However, I will try to squeeze in a few things from the games or the compilation series if I can. Now if I can't, then it's no big deal. But if I do decide to try it, I will tweak those events a bit or more to fit in with this alternate universe. 
> 
> Also, I would like to thank those who've helped me picked the name for this series. I really think it fits and I greatly appreciate it.

**Author's Note:**

> There's some implied stuff going on, but I'm sure you guys can figure out, ne? Including the situation surrounding certain characters, perhaps? 😉


End file.
